The Future of Consumerist

Over the last twelve years, Consumerist has been a steadfast proponent and voice on behalf of consumers, from exposing shady practices by secretive cable companies to pushing for action against dodgy payday lenders. Now, we’re joining forces with Consumer Reports, our parent organization, to cultivate the next generation of consumer advocacy.

Stay tuned as Consumerist’s current and future content finds its home as a part of the Consumer Reports brand. In the meantime, you can access existing Consumerist content below, and we encourage you to visit Consumer Reports to read the latest consumer news.

Instead of the usual 3am Black Friday door opening, several retailers, including Target, Macy’s, and Kohls, announced they’re going to be open at midnight this year.

Black Friday is the shopping bonanza day the day after Thanksgiving that most Consumerist readers don’t care about. Retailers offer discounts to shoppers to kickoff the holiday shopping season, although the quality of the deals has fallen off in the past several years as more shoppers caught on and stores realized they didn’t need to mark down as much to get people in the door.

In their announcement, Target said, “To provide shoppers with a jumpstart on unbeatable Black Friday deals, Target stores will open at midnight–earlier than ever–on Friday, Nov. 25. Extended store hours, along with Target’s Price Match and REDcard Rewards, will have shoppers feeling merry and bright.” Who cares about spending time with family, let’s get to the deals!

One outlet mall said they’re responding by opening even earlier, at 10 pm Thanksgiving Day. “We’re trying to stay ahead of the curve,” Steve Schuknecht, general manager of the Tanger Outlet Center in Howell, told CBS Detroit.

Could this mark the opening shot in a never-ending arms race of ever-earlier openings?

If so, it means that retail workers won’t be getting much of a holiday during the holidays. “I don’t like the fact I have to come in on Thanskgiving, but when you work in retail it’s the nature of the beast,” Schuknecht admitted.